A Historical Introduction to the Law of Obligations

David Ibbetson

A Historical Introduction to the Law of Obligations

David Ibbetson

Description

In this book David Ibbetson exposes the historical layers beneath the modern rules and principles of contract, tort, and unjust enrichment. Small-scale changes caused by lawyers successfully exploiting procedural advantages are juxtaposed with changes caused by friction along the boundaries of these principal legal categories; fossilized remnants of old doctrines jostle with newer ideas in a state of half-consistent tension; and loose-knit rules of equity developed in the Chancery infiltrate themselves into more tightly controlled Common law structures.

A Historical Introduction to the Law of Obligations

David Ibbetson

Table of Contents

1 Prologue: The Prehistory of the English Law of Obligations Pervasive IdeasPenalties and EntitlementsWrongs: Dishonour and LossThe Economy of ExchangeOaths: Threats and PromisesContracts and Personal BondsObligations in Roman Law Delict Contract Quasi-Contract Quasi-Delict2 Structural Foundations Liability for Wrongdoing: Damage and DishonourGlanvill and the Law of DebtCovenant and a Law of Contract3 Unity and Fragmentation of the Mediaeval Law of Contract The Formalization of CovenantCovenant and the Conditional BondThe Fragmentation of Remedies for Informal Contracts4 Trespass, Trespass on the Case, and the Mediaeval Law of Tort The Core of Trespass: Forcible WrongdoingContractual Misperformance and Non-forcible WrongsThe Origins of Trespass on the Case5 The Substantive Law of Torts Strict Liability and the Role of FaultThe Scope of Trespassory Liability6 The Substantive Law of Contract Voluntariness, Agreement, and the Formation of ContractsThe Boundaries of ContractExpectations, Entitlements, and Liability for Breach of ContractPart 2 The Triumph of Trespass on the Case 7 Tort, Property, and Reputation: the Expansion of the Action on the Case NuisanceTrover and ConversionTort and Reputation: Defamation8 The Rise of the Action of Assumpsit Trespass on the Case and Contractual LiabilityContract and Tort: the Action of AssumpsitAssumpsit and the Theory of ContractThe Formal Structure of Contractual LitigationPart 3 The Modern Law of Tort and Contract 9 Trespass, Case, and the Moral Basis of Liability Trespass and Case: the Formal DivisionThe Crystallisation of Neglligence10 The Law of Torts in the Nineteenth Century: The rise of the Tort of Negligence The Tort of NegligenceThe Fragmentation of the Law of Tort11 The Law of Torts in the Twentieth Century: Expansion and Collapse of the Tort of Negligence The Unity of the Tort of NegligenceNegligence and its Satellites12 Foundations of the Modern Law of Contract The Model of ContractThe Theory of Contract13 The Rise of the Will Theory The Will Theory and theClassical Model of Contract The Will Theory and the Model of Exchange14 The Decline of the Will Theory: Legal Regulation and Contractual Fairness Internal Weakness of the Will TheoryUndercutting the Will of the PartiesPart 4 Unjust Enrichment 15 Unjust Enrichment Unjust Enrichment before Lord MansfieldImplied Trusts and Implied ContractsQuasi-Contract, Restitution, and Unjust Enrichment16 Legal Change and Legal Continuity

A Historical Introduction to the Law of Obligations

David Ibbetson

Author Information

David Ibbetson is a lecturer in law at Oxford University

A Historical Introduction to the Law of Obligations

David Ibbetson

Reviews and Awards

"A remarkable book which every lawyer with any interest in the law of obligations should read."--Peter Can

"This is a great work of legal history by a quite exceptional scholar. Every legal historain will recognise the magnitude of its achievement. However, it is extraordinarily important that it should not be seen as only legal history. We have never had a better path to thorough understanding of the modern law of obligations in the common law. Every university jurist who teaches all or part of that area of the law must digest the learning of this book."-- Peter Birks